


Erwin Smith Doesn't Know How To Flirt

by Yukibae



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Deaf!Levi, I really like writing tags, M/M, Non-Binary Hange Zoë, Starbucks, Vague angsty backstories, i dunno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-22 00:28:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2487770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yukibae/pseuds/Yukibae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erwin Smith tries to get Levi's attention. It doesn't work. He's deaf. Oops. Somehow, the appropriate response was to give Levi his number.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because the Ereri 365 Project's deaf!Levi AU is the best AU.

“Can I get that for you?” Erwin asked, after three minutes of watching the short student attempt to reach a textbook tragically out of his range. 

He got no response. Erwin wondered why he didn’t just pull up a chair. It would be embarrassing, he guessed, but two seconds of public shame would be better than getting chewed out by your professor. Then again, Erwin had always been tall, so he couldn’t really empathize much. 

“Which book are you looking for?” They were in the engineering section of the library, hidden far behind philosophy and biology. A political science major himself, Erwin didn’t need any of these books, but he found the silence and seclusion beneficial to studying. 

Still no response. 

“You need help,” Erwin tried, deciding that this would be his final attempt at acknowledgement. 

Dead. Silence. 

The student turned to Erwin, as if suddenly aware of his presence. His eyes widened, and he dropped from the tip of his toes, scowling up at Erwin. He still hadn’t said a word. Erwin smoothed his eyebrows away from the glare he hadn’t been aware he was making.

“I was wondering if you wanted help,” Erwin said, finely polished once again. 

The shorter man blinked twice. He couldn’t have been more than five foot four, and that was being generous. He had black hair, narrow grey eyes, and pale skin. His mouth was twisted into a scowl, and his thin brows (so unlike Erwin’s own) looked as if their natural resting position was somewhere between ‘glare’ and ‘unamused.’ He was pretty attractive, but nothing to write home about (or, in Erwin's case, to Mike about. He wasn't close to his parents in the least). 

He gestured to his ear, and shook his head. Oh. He was deaf. And now Erwin felt guilty. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I was just trying—,” Erwin started, before realizing that literally nothing he was saying was being understood. His mouth fell closed midway through his sentence. This was the single worst impression Erwin had ever made. 

Black-hair seemed entertained by the entire thing. He took out his phone, unlocking and swiping it open. He used a letter password. He typed something and held it up to Erwin’s face. 

_What do you want?_

It wasn’t the greeting he’d been hoping for. Erwin made a motion to pull out his own phone, before Black-hair swatted his hand and placed his phone in it. Erwin didn’t type quite as fast as the shorter man. He’d always preferred speaking over phone to texting.

_Do you want help getting that book?_

He paused, deciding to type in another sentence. _And what’s your name? I’m Erwin._

He handed the phone back. The man read it, and Erwin could see the smallest tinge of embarrassment color his cheeks. It was a blink-and-you’d-miss-it phenomena, and only then did Erwin realize the sheer amount of attention he’d been paying to watching the deaf student type. 

_Levi. yes. engineering mechanics._

Erwin did as he was told, grabbing the volume of the shelf. It was painfully heavy. Erwin felt a surge of pity for all engineering majors. Erwin handed the textbook to Levi, who swung it under his arm without problem. 

_Thanks._

_Is that it?_ Erwin was oddly reluctant to leave Levi’s company. Something about the effortlessness in the way he moved and carried himself was fascinating. There was no hesitation in any of his movements, each flowing seamlessly into the next. 

Levi nodded his agreement. He reached to gather his phone. 

And in that moment, Erwin was struck with the absolute knowledge that he was _most definitely_ not going to let Levi slip away from him completely. He held the phone, fingers _gliding_ across the screen, until the two most important things he was ever going to share was stored in the phone. 

Levi frowned upon receiving the phone once more. Erwin hadn’t put anything extra in the notes. He scowled at Erwin. who was fairly sure he was wearing a horribly self assured smile. Levi slid the phone away into his bag. 

That was the end of that interaction, and Erwin felt something akin to melancholy when he went the Engineering section of the library the next day, only to find it Levi-less.

______________________ 

_'Fucking hell, Hanji,'_ Levi signed frantically, hands flying in precise but untraceable movements. _'He gave me his number. Who the hell does that?'_

_'Calm down. I can’t follow when you’re that fast.'_ Hanji was certainly accustomed to sign-language with their short, angry, best friend (not that he would ever agree with the statement), but sometimes it got to the point where Hanji was fairly sure Levi was transcending the boundaries of human ability. They’d have to test that, of course. They were a Biology major through and through. _'I never thought I’d see you this excited.'_

_'Maybe you could if you ever cleaned your glasses, you’d actually be able to see shit out of them.'_

Hanji let out a short, barking laugh. They had the pleasure of rooming with Levi, which resulted in many cleanliness related turf wars. _'You hurt me, Levi. Really.'_

He scoffed, averting his eyes in another direction. He was adorably easy to guilt, once you learned to translate the asshole-ness. 

_'Do you like him?'_

_'No. We’ve only met once. '_

_'He could be your knight in shining armor. Love at first sight, sort of thing.'_

_'You’re full of shit, four-eyes.'_

_'You do like him! '_ Hanji signed enthusiastically, yelling the words as they signed. It was a habit they had yet to break. Although it didn’t bother Levi— he couldn’t hear it—Moblit had put in a good many number of complaints regarding Hanji yelling bits of conversation out. 

_'That makes no fucking sense. '_

Hanji snickered. _'I just realized. You gave him your phone. You never give anyone your phone.'_

_'I needed to talk to him. '_

_'You still make me use mine.'_

_'You never wash your hands.'_ His face was twisted comically. 

Hanji brushed the insult off, throwing a glance at their hands anyway. They didn’t _look_ dirty or anything. _'I’m just saying, you were interested. '_

_'I’ll give you that. He's attractive.'_ Hanji didn’t doubt it. They were fairly sure that they’d seen Erwin Smith around, and he was pretty damn fine. 

_'So are you gonna text him?'_

_'No.'_

Hanji pouted. _'Why not? He’s probably interested in you. '_

_'No one wants to date a deaf asshole.'_

“Oh, Levi,” Hanji said, not bothering to sign the words. He wouldn’t stand for them, anyhow. Hanji dropped their hands. Levi somehow had it imbedded in his mind that he was completely unwanted. Hanji didn’t know what gave him that mindset. He’d only told them bits of his past in the few years that they’d been his translator. Every bit of information had been given reluctantly. His dead mother and Kaney Ackerman. How Isabel Magnolia and Farlan Church had taught him sign language instead of his own father. “Give yourself a chance.”

_'You should still ask him out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.'_ Hanji signed instead, wishing they could say more. 

_'I guess.'_ He looked reluctant, but Hanji could swear that there was a smile playing at his lips.  
______________________

“Erwin, this is pathetic,” Mike said. Erwin, usually the most dignified person, had been checking his phone at five minute intervals for the past day. “You don’t even know him, and you’re pining.”

“I’m not pining,” he murmured, eyes scanning the screen. He determined that there had not been any change in the past six seconds. 

“Why didn’t you just ask him for his number?” Mike asked. 

“The same reason you didn’t ask Nanaba.”

“Shut up,” Mike sputtered. “A-At least I ended up dating her. At this rate you’re never going to get anywhere,” Mike said, too fast to even seem respectable. “What’s his name, anyway.”

“Levi,” Erwin said. Mike rolled his eyes, his dear-old friend sounded completely smitten. 

“And he’s deaf,” Mike said. It wasn’t that he thought there was anything wrong with it, but Erwin was a vocal person. He needed to speak. “And short. I hope you know that the height difference is actually annoying a lot of the time.” Mike was really tall, and Nana… wasn’t. Only one of them was going to win with the umbrella, and neither of them was planning on giving in anytime soon. 

“No, he can’t hear or speak,” Erwin said. At least it would spare Levi from Erwin’s speeches. The oddest thing would set him off on one of his For-The-Glory-of-Humanity speeches. 

“Right. And you don’t know any sign language.” 

“I could learn.” Erwin was really getting ahead of himself for a guy he had spoken— _typed_ — half of a conversation with him. “My schedule has space.” Mike knew that Erwin was some sort of prodigy. He didn’t doubt that Erwin could teach it to himself. Hell, he’d probably already checked out three books from the library. 

“Calm down,” Mike scolded. “He hasn’t even texted you, maybe he’s not interested.” He felt bad for even saying the words, but he needed Erwin to understand that this wasn’t a make or break situation. 

And Erwin turned into a dough eyed puppy. He looked at Mike with his bushy eyebrows and big blue eyes and fuck, Mike felt guilty. Damn Smith with his powers of mind manipulation. “Never mind, I’m sure it’ll work out,” Mike tried to assert, but the damage had been done. Mike would laugh at anyone who thought that Erwin was deep and mysterious. Erwin Smith was a goddamn loser. And Mike Zakarius was the idiot who roomed with him. 

“Holy hell,” Erwin yelped. _Yelped._ It was a horrible sound. “He texted me.”

“Congratulations,” Mike said, and he was fairly sure that he meant it. “What’s it say?” Maybe that was a little bit too personal, but Mike had waited just as long for this text as Erwin had.

But it was too late, and Erwin was out the door. Mike collapsed onto his bed, which was a special sort of hell hole. Erwin hadn’t helped with Mike’s work load, what with his incessant pacing. Mike opened his phone and dialed in Nana’s number. 

“I need to talk shit about Erwin. You free?” 

And Nanaba, the ever kind girlfriend that she was, responded with an affirmative and time. 

______________________ 

_It’s levi._

That was the entire text, and Erwin had it saved to his phone within the half minute. He somehow felt that he needed to move to a more ceremonious place. He could apologize to Mike later. Erwin moved out to the park. It was cold, and empty. During the warmer seasons, children overran it. The park was a little off campus, and arguably had the best playground in all of Shiganshina. 

_Hey._

Erwin wondered if Levi had been a complete mess, too. He kind of hoped so. 

_got a last name?_

_Smith. Erwin Smith. Just Levi?_ Mike had apparently heard of Levi before, and told Erwin that he never told anyone his last name.

_Just levi._

Levi may have started the conversation, but he seemed determined to give Erwin exactly zero material to talk about. He had no idea what to discuss about that wasn’t completely awkward. 

_Engineering major, right? How’s the book?_ It wasn’t unbearably bad. 

_Ugh. fucking horrible. i hate math._

_That’s why I’m a Political Science major._ Erwin choose to skip the fact that he had been fascinated with the study since he was a kid, and had failed his math classes in middle school. 

_Politics are worse._

_Should I be offended by that?_

_Are you trying to flirt, shit stain._ That was an excellent question. Was he trying to flirt?

_Do you want me to be?_ And now he was definitely flirting. To a probably low degree of success. 

_Please tell me youre kidding. that was the shittiest comeback ive ever heard._ Erwin choose that now would be a good time to pretend that he knew what he was doing. 

_You can’t hear._ Unbeknownst to Erwin, Levi was smashing his face into a pillow. 

_Youre a despicable human being._

_I’ll stop ‘flirting’ if you go on a date with me._ Oh god. He sent it. Why did he send it. Why was he an idiot. 

There was no response. Oh crap. Erwin screwed up. Damnit. He got so far. There had to have been a way to play that off as a joke. 

Nope. Nada. Nothing. No escape at all. He was going to transfer universities. 

_…Where_

Erwin let out a whoop in a silent park. There was hope for humanity yet.  
___________________________

They decided on the Starbucks, because it was close and about as unemotionally unattached as you could get. Levi wasn’t huge on _Starbucks_ (Hanji always had to get his drink because he _couldn't fucking hear_ them call his name, and Hanji always gave the barista a stupid fake name), but it was better than going to some restaurant where they’d both be stuck sitting, unable to bullshit some excuse to leave. 

Petra had been annoyingly cheery about the entire thing. So now he was standing outside Starbucks fifteen minutes early fidgeting with his phone. This was a bad idea. Levi was going to throw Hanji’s advice back in their face next time. It was cold, and Levi was nervous. 

Levi caught a tall blond in the corner of his vision. He raised his hand in greeting. Erwin caught sight of him, and sped his pace to greet Levi. Well, now they were screwed. Levi hadn’t taken into account their inability to speak to each other. 

But Erwin, because Erwin Smith was a thousand times better than Levi would ever be.

_'How are you?'_ His hands were shaky, the motions uncertain, but recognizable nonetheless. A blush colored his cheeks and was, Levi hated to say it, sort of cute. 

_'Fine.'_ Levi gave a small smile and nod for good measure. Erwin recognized the sign, much to Levi’s delight. _'You?_

_'Quite well. '_ He was a little surprised at the formal response. Erwin’s shitty flirting was apparently exclusive from the rest of his personality. Erwin paused for a moment, before gesturing to the inside of the coffee shop. Go in. Levi nodded his confirmation, and the two ventured into the horribly crowded space. As with all _Starbucks_ , the entire place was filled with people leeching off of the free wifi. 

It was nearing Christmas time, and the entire place smelled of Peppermint. How peppermint became the official winter flavoring, Levi had no idea. Hanji adored the seasonal drinks (god alone knew how much pumpkin-somthing they drank during October), but Levi always got the same thing. Black fucking coffee. If Erwin were to get some peppermint shit, Levi was afraid that he’d have to leave the premises. 

He pointed to the line, and stepped onto it. Erwin stepped in behind him. Armin Arlert was on shift. There was nothing remarkable about the blond, aside from his intelligence, but he knew sign language, and that was good enough. If Levi remembered correctly, he was friends with some asshole named Eren who yelled a lot. 

Levi and Erwin sat down. Erwin, thankfully, had not gotten Peppermint anything. At least, it didn’t smell like Peppermint. Erwin excused himself to take a look at his phone (all Levi saw was a text from someone named ‘Mike’ in all-caps). Levi took the opportunity to finally get a full look at his cup. Armin had taken a particularly long time to make it. A small sentence was scrawled across the cup in Armin’s neat handwriting. 

_'You’re dating Erwin? Thank god. He’s been pining for the last two days.'_

Ah. Levi was fucking in this for the long run.


	2. Mike Zakarius: Ultimate Shipper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike waits for Erwin to come back from his date.  
> Nanaba plans the Eruri wedding.

_HOW IS IT GOING?_ Mike texted Erwin. Erwin had come back from the park half-frozen and looking absolutely ecstatic. It was clear as day that he’d gotten a date. Mike had done the right thing, and inquired Erwin incessantly about it for a half hour. Erwin had been no less hesitant to answer the questions, with a brief but _thrilled_ “yes, tomorrow, Starbucks, I asked,” so on and so forth.

_Not now._ Mike was surprised by the quick reply. Erwin usually took a while to respond, especially when he was preoccupied. Mike figured that he’d be too focused on Levi to even glance at his phone. He really hoped that Erwin just wanted to free himself of any disturbances beforehand. 

It was strange, but Mike hoped to god that Levi lived up to Erwin’s expectations. He wanted Erwin to be happy. Erwin wasn’t _unhappy_ , not that Mike knew of, but there was so much more that he could have. He kept a near-constant veneer of curtesy and expectation, rarely letting himself develop a real emotional bond.

But that was beyond the point. Right now, Mike just wanted Erwin Smith to have a successful first date. 

Mike shut off his phone. No point is bothering Erwin now. 

“Did you get a response?” Nanaba asked. She was sitting on Mike’s bed while he attempted to organize the room. She had made it clear that she had no intentions of helping him clean _physically_ , but she was glad to offer moral support (her idea of moral support turned out to be gossiping while he cleaned. The company was nice, though).

“‘Not now,’” Mike recited, finding all the matching pairs of socks he was convinced would never see the light of day again. “Do you think its going well?”

Nana snicked. “You sound like his mom,” she said, hand raised lightly near her lips. She always did that when she laughed, even when drunk beyond all recognition. It was adorable. Mike had learned early on that, despite her androgynous appearance, Nana was sweet as hell and had an affinity for pink. And she smelled like some sort of mountain flower. Not without being a badass who didn’t take shit from anybody. 

“I’m just concerned. What if—,” Mike started.

“Calm down,” Nana said. “Erwin’s a big boy who can handle himself, mommy Mike.”

“Please never ever call me that again.”

“Boring,” Nanaba sung. She had a lot of qualities, but musicality was not one of them. “What’s this ‘Levi’ like, anyway. Besides deaf and short.”

“I don’t actually know. Erwin never really explained what he liked about him.”

“Oh. What about his friends?”

“I don’t know,” Mike said. “Wow. That sounds really bad.”

“No duh,” Nana said, “You’re horrible at motherhood.”

“Please don’t,” Mike said, both to Nanaba and some _thing_ under the bed. “It’s not my fault. Erwin never said anything, and I don’t intend on online stalking him.”

“Fair enough,” Nana said. She took a thoughtful silence. “Did you know Erwin liked guys?”

Mike frowned. He hadn’t really considered it. “I guess not. He never seemed romantically interested in anyone, actually. There was Marie, but that was a long time ago.”

Nana hummed her acknowledgement. “Girls too? I’m glad. Makes his elementary school fan club seem a little less sad.” Mike, Nana and Erwin had all gone to the same elementary school, where Erwin was undeniably the most popular of the group. Even those who weren’t so fond of him couldn’t think of an insult much worse than ‘eyebrows.’

“Let’s just hope Levi isn’t the jealous type,” Mike said. He himself wasn’t. Good thing too, considering how much Nanaba seemed to like to talk about Erwin. Logically, Mike knew that he talked about Erwin just as much, but they were best friends. He needed some way to amuse himself. 

“Yeah, I hope so,” Nanaba murmured. “Hey, Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“You know how you didn’t want to internet-stalk Levi?”

“Yup. Morality and all.”

“Fuck that, what’s your computer password?”

___________________________

It turned out, thirty minutes later, that Levi didn’t believe in the internet. There was nothing on him anywhere, and Mike failed to see how that was even possible. 

“Maybe you could look for his friends?” Mike offered lightly to Nana, who was fuming. It was a rare occasion that she couldn’t find the information she wanted (she could finish homework in about half the time anyone else could, damn her). 

“How am I supposed to do that when I don’t know them?” Nanaba snapped. Mike reared back into a stack of books. “He could be some sort of antisocial hermit, for all we know.”

“You’re right,” Mike said gently. Very gently. “We’ll just have to wait.”

Nanaba pouted and closed the computer screen. She didn’t properly shut down the computer, which mildly irritated Mike, though not nearly enough to pick a fight with an already annoyed Nanaba. 

“You know,” she said, sighing, “this is so much worse than when I was waiting to see if you were going to call me back.”

“Really?”

“At least I knew that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if you didn’t respond in 24 hours. I’m not sure Erwin knows that.”

“You have literally no faith in him.”

“Should I?”

“Good point.”  
___________________________

Erwin slipped in to the room, finding Mike and Nanaba asleep on Mike’s bed, and the room markedly cleaner. He contemplated sneaking back out as to not wake them up, but it was too late. Nana stirred in Mike’s arms, rubbing a hand across her eyes. 

“Oi, Erwin? ‘Hat you?” she said, words slurred. Mike groaned behind her, propping himself on his elbows. Nanaba blinked twice, then shot up. “How’d it go?”

“Were you waiting for me to get back the entire time?”

“A little,” Nanaba said dismissively. Mike rubbed his eyes, much slower on the uptake. Erwin looked happy, although a little confused. 

“Nana, stop giving him the third degree,” Mike said. It wasn’t late, which was good. His ‘naps’ had turned into 12 hour comas before. 

“Shut up,” Nana said, without any real anger, “don’t play innocent. You were just as bad as me.” Erwin’s face fell, somewhere between mortified and murderous.

“You were stalking me,” Erwin stated solemnly. “Please tell me you didn’t google Levi.”

“We—,”

“You,” Mike corrected Nanaba. He could play The Good Boyfriend some other time.

“I,” Nanaba said, throwing a small glare at Mike for good measure, “did a little search. Don’t worry, he’s not a secret porn star or anything.” Erwin, at this point, had given up on any emotion aside from bitter acceptance. 

“I didn’t think he was, but thanks,” Erwin said flatly. Mike flinched.

“Don’t get mad,” Nana asserted, either missing the glare or having surpassed fear itself, “we-I wouldn’t have had to if you told me anything about him.”

“There wasn’t anything to tell.”

“Well, now there is. Which brings us full circle. How’d it go?”

“It went well,” Erwin said curtly, though Mike could see the excitement behind his eyes. there was a a certain passion that Mike rarely saw, usually hidden so well. Mike had been scared. Erwin took to people like a puzzle, figuring out every action and motive ceaselessly. Who was to say that he actually liked Levi, beyond just seeing him as a new problem to solve. Erwin didn’t trust for trust’s sake, and that would be the end of him. 

But he didn’t have that look in his eye. There wasn’t any animalistic glint or sick curiosity that usually came with his enthusiasm. Just comfort. Mike didn’t doubt that Erwin wanted to figure Levi out, but there was a huge gap between examination and dissection. 

“What’s he like?” Mike asked, joining in on Nanaba’s interrogation. 

“Crude,” Erwin said quickly. “He curses like Auruo, maybe worse.” Auruo had the vocabulary of a sailor. His chosen forensic science major accommodated it well enough. Apparently he had started out as a law student, but quit when he couldn’t stop starting every argument with “listen here you little shit.”

“Really?” Nana said, grimacing. “That’s… not great,” she said, deciding to phrase it gently. 

“It’s fine,” Erwin dismissed. “Theres less impulse and a bit more humor. It’s a little endearing.”

“Good sense of humor?” 

“It’s shitty,” then Erwin smiled like he was sharing an inside joke with himself. 

“Oh my crap Erwin, you’re in love,” Nana said with mock horror. Mike agreed with the assessment himself. The idiot was smitten. 

“I’m not,” Erwin said, a dash too fast and a dash too defensively to be a simple disclaimer. “It was just one date.

“What about the second?” Mike asked, knowing that this ship was going to fucking sail.

“Next Friday,” Erwin said, looking ever so slightly flustered. But Mike and Nanaba were great friends who took every chance they could to embarrass Erwin. 

“Can I be the flower girl at the wedding?” Nana asked. “I mean, clearly I’ll be the Maid of Honor, but can I be the flower girl too?” Nana’s voice naturally possessed a masterful level of deadpan. She could have been talking about statistics and murder, and her tone wouldn’t change. 

“And I’m Best Man, right?” Mike said, not missing a beat. “I’d also be a great ring bearer.”

“You two are unbelievable,” Erwin said, sitting on his bed. 

“I’m not hearing a no.”

“I’m not giving you a yes either,” Erwin said. He looked up and around the room, eyebrows furrowing. “You actually cleaned it?” he said weakly, trying to change the subject. 

“Yup,” Mike said proudly. “For your Bachelor’s Party. Speaking of which, I think I found that suit jacket I lost for you.”

“It was actually in here?”

“Yeah,” Nana said. “It’ll look great on you, but we should make sure it matches the wedding color scheme first. What color do you think will good on Levi? What color are this eyes?”

“Grey,” Erwin said.

“You actually answered that,” Mike said in dull horror. “

“To the eye thing or the color thing?” Nana asked, following up ruthlessly. “I read some article while you were gone. Apparently we should color coordinate according to eye color.” Nana had been indeed going through a number of online articles about color coding. She was an art major, and Mike thought that it had been for some project. He was wrong.

“Eye thing,” Erwin repeated. A grin split Nanaba’s face.  
___________________________

Nana had went on a thirty minute (deadly calm) tirade about how well _certain_ shades of blue and grey went well together, but not others. Mike knew that she loved color in her work, but he didn’t think he’d be able to look at a remotely cloudy sky for the next month without flinching.

Erwin was extremely good at _looking_ entertained, but Mike knew that he was just relieved that he hadn’t had to share explicit details about his date with Levi. Nanaba had to leave for a lecture, sparing Erwin from suit measurements. He looked slightly frantic, unable to keep up with Nana’s rapid speed questions, but it was probably healthy to be a little humiliated. 

“You’ll know that Nanaba will be worse at your wedding, right,” Erwin said, sagging into his chair. 

“W-Wedding?” Mike sputtered. He took back everything he said about healthy humiliation. He could feel a blush rising to his cheeks, acknowledging it with resignation. 

Erwin was as ruthless as he was intelligent. “The one I’m the best man in? With the,” he made some gesture with his hand, collecting his thoughts, “lilac color scheme? I think that’s what she decided on.” Mike couldn’t tell if Erwin was bullshitting this, or if he had missed something very fundamental in Nana’s lecture. 

Either way, he wasn’t about to let Erwin get the upper hand. “Right. I was hoping that Levi would catch the bouquet. Do you think he’d be tall enough?” It wasn’t the best comeback by any means, but Erwin was undoubtedly sensitive to the mention of his date. 

“Fine,” Erwin sighed, “you win.”

“Damn straight,” Mike said. The two fell into a comfortable silence, Erwin typing away at something, and Mike scrolling through his lecture notes. They were fairly good. Mike had a very well established system of shorthand that he was very much proud of. 

“Oi, you never did tell me how it went,” Mike said, content with the state of his binder. “I don’t need explicit detail, if that makes you feel better.”

“Nothing _explicit_ happened. We went to Starbucks. We got drinks. We talked. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Yet, I don’t believe you. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. What did you talk about? How?”

“I made an attempt at signing, and he taught me some words. Otherwise, we just wrote everything out.”

“But what did you write _about_?”

“Just courses and teachers and crap. There was no drama. He told me about his friends Hanji and Petra who translate for him. I mentioned you and Nana.” 

Mike huffed. “So, nothing special.”

“I guess not,” Erwin said. He looked like he didn’t like the taste sound of the words. It certainly had been a little more than normal. 

“Do you have a picture of him or anything?”

“Why the hell would I take a picture of him?”

“Can you ask him for one?” Mike said innocently. 

“No. That’s ridiculous.”

“Why would it be? Say its for your contact image or something.”

“I guess that’s fine,” Erwin said slowly. He sent the text. 

“Not so bad, was it?” Mike said. Erwin’s eyes were once again glued to the screen

“No. I guess not.”

A text lit up. Erwin read it quickly, typing his response with a faster reaction time than Mike previously thought possible. “He says he takes shitty pictures,” Erwin said, reading off the screen.

“Don’t his friends have any pictures of him? Ask for a link to their Instagram or something.”

“That’s a little stalker-ish.”

“This _is_ stalking.”

“All the more reason not to do it,” Erwin said, too logical for Mike’s tastes. “Wait, he’s sent some other link. Petra’s a photographer, apparently. Its her blog. Give me a second.” Erwin picked out a few different links. His eyes lit up in recognition after what Mike counted as six scrolls, and he handed the phone to Mike.

Mike suspected that Nanaba and Petra would get along well. Petra’s shot held all the vivid colors and angles that Mike knew to associate with Nana’s work. The only person in the shot was who Mike assumed was Levi, stark and still against the bright background. 

Levi himself wasn’t looking at the camera, and Mike could guess that the picture had been taken without his notice. He had pale skin and an undercut (like Mike and Erwin, and he really didn’t know when that haircut got that popular).Levi’s eyes were narrow, the grey visible. His entire face was thin and fine, each detail picked out precisely. 

Mike didn’t think Levi was particularly attractive, but Erwin must have. Mike could see how he’d be aesthetically pleasing, though. 

He took a quick glance at the other pictures. There was a girl was soft ginger hair and cute features, who was labeled to be Petra herself. Another held someone with glasses and messy brown hair. They were grinning madly in the picture, the caption reading the figure as “Hanji.” Levi looked distinctly disagreeable next to his counterparts. 

Another text took form on the screen, and Mike handed the phone back to Erwin. Said blond smiled ever so slightly. 

“Hey Erwin,” Mike said, coming to an absolute truth of the world.

“Yeah?”

“You’re insanely out of your league.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't go to college. I don't know how that witchcraft works. If there are any glaring mistakes, please point them out to me.  
> Thanks for reading~  
> (P.S. I have sincerely no idea where this fanfic is going. What will happen. No one knows.)


	3. Seek the High Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Levi doesn't know what he's doing, either.

Hanji paced their dorm. They made sure not to knock over anything or rumple Levi’s bedsheets. He would throw a fit, and force them to clean out the entire room again. The last time was bad enough. Hanji had thought that they were going to _die_ of Windex fumes. 

But they were nervous. Terrified. Hugely enthusiastic. Levi was on a date, and that was massive. He rarely spoke to anyone, never mind let himself go on a date with them. Petra was in a lecture, and Moblit didn’t make a very good gossip partner, so Hanji was left alone to worry until Levi came back. 

They checked the time. Hanji was a lot of things, but lazy wasn’t one of them. All their work was done, and there was nothing to do but stress until Levi returned. They’d tried to distract themselves, to no avail. 

It didn't help that this was the one time in Hanji’s entire life that Levi choose to spend more time with a stranger than absolutely necessary. And that was great, really it was, but there was a small nagging panic at the back of Hanji’s mind, cause Levi might be absolutely miserable and trapped at some table and if _Erwin dared to pull any s—_.

The door opened and Hanji had never been quite so grateful. They took a deep breath and ran a hand through their hair. No sense in letting Levi know how worried they’d been. They cracked a grin onto their face, smoothing out any lines of worry or anger. 

‘ _Hey, how’d it go?_ ’ Hanji signed brightly.

Levi frowned. _Fine. You look terrible._

Ah, dammit. He spoke Hanji as much as they spoke Levi. They knew that that was just Levi’s way of saying “are you okay?” He was brutally honest, but had a obscure way of speaking that seemed to cancel that out. 

‘ _I was a little worried_ Hanji said, scratching the back of their head. No sense in hiding anything now. ‘ _But thats not important_. How was it?’

‘ _It was fine._ ’

‘ _I know that! But what did you talk about? Was he nice?_ ’ Hanji was getting concerned. 

‘ _He was nice. We just talked about school and shit. Nothing important._ ’ Levi wasn’t good at talking about personal things anyway, so his reluctance wasn’t terribly surprising. Just the fact that he called Erwin ‘nice’ to begin seemed like promise to Hanji. 

‘ _Are you going to see him again?_ ’

‘ _Yeah. Next Friday_ ’

Hanji was practically buzzing with excitement. So it had gone very well. They let out a preteen ‘eep,’ which would get Hanji into trouble with Moblit again. 

‘ _So, what’s Erwin like?_ ’

‘ _Very formal. He’s got a low-key stick up his ass._ ’

Hanji laughed. ‘ _And thats a good thing?_ ’

‘ _No, but he seems…reliable. I trust him._ ’ Levi looked away ever so slightly, and Hanji nearly choked. That was basically commitment for the short asshole. 

‘ _I guess that means he’s in the clear with me._ ’

‘ _I guess._ ’

‘ _I need to know shallow shit, though. Is he hot? What major?_ ’

Levi scowled at them, ‘ _Yes._ ,’ he responded reluctantly. ‘ _Political science,_ ’ Hanji frowned, ‘ _but not the pretentious kind_ ,’ he amended. Levi and Hanji both shared a profound dislike of politics and the like. The subject itself wasn’t so bad, but the people in it tended to be a special sort of annoying. 

‘ _No veto there _’ Hanji said. After about a week of knowing each other, they’d made a (fairly effective, if Hanji did say so themselves) veto system. No chemistry in the room. No cleaning earlier than nine in the morning.__

‘ _Good._ ’ Levi got up, beginning to straighten pillows that were barely out of order, and adjust books that looked perfectly straight. Hanji hoped that Erwin could put up with his cleaning obsession. It tended to get worse whenever Levi was stressed, which concerned Hanji. He had cleaned before he left. There was always a bit of tidying up upon return, but never at this level. 

‘ _Are you sure everything went okay?_ They signed. Concern leaked onto their face, furrowing their forehead and pulling their lips together into a tight line. Levi looked at them stiffly. ‘ _I’m sure._ ’ 

‘ _You look nervous. Something is wrong._ ’ 

He froze his book-straightening. Hanji watched his hands fumble, lost for words. ‘ _Nothing went wrong. It was actually… great. I don’t know how long that can last._ ’ Levi kept gaze with Hanji, face impassive. Hanji wished that they could read something more on it. 

‘ _I don’t know why you insist something is going to go wrong,_ ’ Hanji laughed weakly, trying to keep the mood light. ‘ _You trust Erwin, and I trust you. For once, believe in yourself._ ’ Hanji’s hands had grown frantic without their knowledge. Because, _god_ , sometimes Levi was a fucking idiot. 

Levi said—signed, whatever— nothing. Hanji swallowed air, finding their throat tight. 

‘ _I’m sorry,_ ’ Hanji signed, ‘ _I got out of hand, you deserve the right to be nervous—_ ’ 

‘ _No, you’re right, _’ The lightest of blushes colored his cheeks. Nobody but Hanji could have seen it. ‘ _I was stuck in my own head. I want to do this. I know I do._ ’__

‘ _No one knows how these things are going to turn out, right? You told me that. We’re all just doing what we can._ ’ Hanji’s eyes softened. Levi’s Choice-With-No-Regrets philosophy was one of the first things that drew Hanji to him. He was gentle, despite appearances. No matter what your mistake, he wouldn’t ever abandon you. And Hanji need that sort of reliability that they themselves lacked. 

‘ _Thank you,_ ’ Levi offered, though Hanji didn’t need the words.  
___________________________ 

The air was cold and biting. Against the humid, murky slop of summer heat, the change was welcome. Levi rather liked winter. It was stupid, but the season somehow felt more honest than the others. Or maybe he was just sappy as fuck after one shitty date. 

But it wasn’t shitty, which was the annoying part. If it had been shitty, than he would have been able to forget about Smith and move on. Levi didn’t want to forget, though, which only frustrated him further. Because he _had_ been fine with just shitty glasses and Petra and _damn it_ why was this happening? 

Levi didn’t know why _this_ was such a bad thing. He didn’t. Everything that he’d ever had to read said that love— _he was not going to fucking call it that_ —was some miracle that he’d never achieve. It was supposed to feel warm, and exciting, and only _a little_ bit terrifying. And Levi would be damned if it didn’t feel like some kind of fire was ricocheting against his heart. 

Jesus fuck, Levi. You’ve been on _one_ date. 

One date. While it was true that he was horribly lacking in experience with that sort of thing, Levi was fairly sure that ordinary people didn’t attempt to teach themselves another language for a first date. Erwin Smith was just not ordinary. Not normal. At least, it let Levi know that he was as whipped as Levi himself was. 

Unless he did that for every date, which Levi did not allow himself to dwell on. Erwin Smith definitely wasn’t like that. He couldn’t be. Yes, he may have seemed charming, but he was entirely too cautious to make moves like that without a good incentive. 

It would work well, though, considering that Levi’s heart had skewered itself when he did that clumsy sign for the first time. Erwin had then continued to not order pumpkin-spice shit, and be otherwise annoying faultless. They hadn’t spoken about anything important, but the point was that they communicated and everything felt natural. 

If it stayed that way—Well, Levi had never gotten that far. Hanji had faith, so he would too, but Levi couldn’t shake the weight on his chest. It had been there when his stupid phone froze and Erwin had had to wait in total pause for Levi to be able to type again, and it was going to be there next time Erwin mistakenly called his name before apologizing profoundly for _forgetting_. 

Levi wasn’t a burden. He knew that. He could take classes, and get a job, and function fine. But he hated that he couldn’t meet Erwin, or anyone else, halfway. He hated it more than anything. 

He exhaled sharply, releasing a puff of white into the air. It had been three days since their date. It shouldn’t be weighing on his mind so heavily. He’d see Erwin soon enough, and that would ease his mind. From his post on top of the nearby playground, Levi could see passerby rush along the grey landscape, trying to outrun the cold. 

A group of figures entered the park. The entrance would have been hidden from view in the summer, when green leaves enveloped the mass of trees decorating the park. It wasn’t the first time that people had walked in on, what Hanji called, ‘Levi’s Public Brooding Sessions.’ It was an open area, after all. 

Levi lazily examined the group. A tall blond with broad shoulders, an equally blonde girl who looked annoyingly tall, and Erwin Smith. 

Fucking _hell_. 

One week. He gave himself one week to figure this shit out and did not need Erwin Smith, or his friends (how he managed to only make blond friends, Levi didn’t know or understand) right now. Levi ducked behind a tree—the playground had gotten its reputation from its unique build, which centered a large, old tree, and this was really not the time to be considering this—faster than he could think. 

He was acting like a child, but Levi’s pride was replaced by some sick survival instinct. Running into Erwin would have been fine and dandy if Levi weren’t so wound up about him, and on a playground. Of all the places to seek comfort, he had to have chosen a playground. 

And _that_ was enough. He wasn’t going to let himself get this self-conscious. Levi pulled himself off the tree. He made his way to the stairs (like hell he was going down a ladder. Even if he had done so every other time). Erwin was already past the playground, and Levi hadn’t been noticed. 

His feet touched the ground, and Levi was nicely on his way back to the dorms. There had been nothing to worry about— _shit_. 

Erwin’s hand was on his shoulder, a generous smile on his face. The man and woman stood behind him, looking bemused and clearly a couple. 

Erwin signed his name, turning around to say something to his friends. Levi didn’t care, though. He would have hopefully met them anyway, and what was more important was that Erwin Smith had used his sign name, which Levi had by _no means_ expected him to remember. 

Levi pointed to the man and woman behind Erwin, tilting his head and furrowing his brow lightly. Erwin caught on, spelling out their names. He had seemingly practiced the alphabet, with each letter moving smoothly into the next one. Mike and Nanaba. 

Mike waved his hand, looking nice albeit awkward. Nanaba was more reserved, giving a nod of recognition. Levi liked her. Mike said something to Erwin. He was taller than Erwin, which was irritating. Nanaba stayed out of the conversation, only contributing a few words. She looked to be analyzing Levi. Erwin had told Levi that she was only outgoing with close friends, but this felt outright hostile. 

Erwin turned his attention back to Levi, pulling out his phone and typing a message out. 

_They’re fine with leaving if you want to have an impromptu date._

Levi grabbed Erwin’s phone, not wanting to dig his out from the inside pocket of his coat. _sure? if you were going to do something, i should head back anyway._

_We weren’t really doing anything. We just detoured into the park._

_I see._ Levi couldn’t really think of anything else to write. He definitely wanted to spend time with Erwin, but he was also dead terrified of messing everything up with some half thought out shit. Levi was spared, luckily, by Nanaba’s sudden decision to pass her own decree. Erwin nodded along to whatever she said, looking mildly horrified. 

Nanaba curtly gestured to the phone, a question on her face. Levi understood, handing it over. The woman typed deftly, and handed the device back over in little time. 

_Mike and i have to go. have fun with erwin._ She offered Erwin friendly punch and skipped off, Mike on her arm. Levi was beginning to see what Erwin meant by “outgoing.” 

_I guess its a date then_ , Levi wrote, handing the phone to a mortified Erwin. His cheeks were far redder then they had been, removing any chance of passing it off as the cold. 

_Sorry._ Erwin scratched the back of his head, looking like an overgrown child for a half moment. 

_Levi didn’t know what he was apologizing for. Hanji made Mike and Nanaba look absolutely plain. _Its fine._ _

_Where do you want to go?_

_Not starbucks. ill bring you there._ Levi took off, not looking behind him. He trusted that Erwin would follow him. 

He did, and Levi found himself walking to Isabel Magnolia, adorned by one Erwin Smith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _A Choice With No Regrets _is out in a few days, holla.  
>  I feel compelled to leave End Notes even though I have nothing to say. Oh well.__
> 
> __Anyhow, something glitched and I had HTML issues while putting up this chapter, so if there's a block of _s I didn't see, please inform me. Long story short, I suck at technology.__ _
> 
> ___Anyway, there's still no plot! Yoooo_ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was basically written on impulse.  
> I'm trying to figure out how to write Erwin without the whole weight-of-humanity-thing on his shoulders, and he suddenly became extremely romantically incompetent.  
> I don't know much about Deaf (uppercase?) culture, so if there's anything offensive or horribly inaccurate, please comment and I'll fix it.  
> Reviews always welcome~  
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
